Sincerely
by Painted Sky
Summary: -Ashe was never really the kind to face her past. But at this point, it didn't really look like she had a choice in the matter.- -Vaan x Ashe- -Companion to Yours Truly-
1. Part One

**A/N: I warn you, I only have a very, very vague idea of where this is going. And by that, I mean super vague. All I know is that this demanded to be written. Mostly by myself, though a few reviewers have mentioned that they wouldn't mind some lose ends being tied up. So all I really know is that this demanded to be written, and it's going to take more than one chapter to do so. **

**So here's the prologue, dears.**

**Enjoy.**

**Unfinished: **

**Prologue**

Vaan and Ada found themselves in a prison cell.

Not that that was anything unusual.

The duo probably couldn't count how many times they had been arrested and thrown in a prison cell, now in four different countries and three continents. It was almost something to boast about, if they were the kind to boast. And they were.

They now found themselves in one of the cleanest prison cells they had ever been in (probably the cleanest), and Vaan would certainly thank Penelo the next time he saw her. They found themselves in a prison cell in Archades, the very city where Penelo ruled at the side of her best friend and husband, Larsa. It had been a year since their adventurous, epic wedding, and Penelo had never been as happy as she was with Larsa. Vaan should have been jealous, he should have been bitter that Penelo had found someone that loved her for who she was, while Vaan was still nursing a heartbreak from—how many years ago, now?

But he wasn't. That kind of life, stuffy, prissy_ palace_life was not the life for him. It never would be. He glanced at his partner, for a moment.

Ada was staring off into space, her eyes glazed over slightly. It was definitely impossible to tell what she was thinking. He loved Ada, he knew that. But—it wasn't the same. He knew that. She knew that. And it would never be the same. It would never be the same as loving _her. _

He felt a momentary pain in his chest, the kind of pain he often associated with unfinished business. He almost gasped. Almost. He was almost on the verge of letting the pain get to him, after so long. Almost.

Almost.

Vaan knew that he would have to get over this eventually. It wasn't right, for a sky pirate, as free and as unburdened as the wind, to be tied down by something as burdensome as a long lost love. But wasn't it just painfully obvious that he couldn't let this go?

He remembered talking Balthier into making an appearance at Ashe's coronation banquet, and he had only watched as the older sky pirate just shook his head in disgrace. It wasn't fitting, for a sky pirate, Balthier had explained to him, to chase after a princess like this. Vaan had pointed out in return that he had felt this way about his princess before he had become a sky pirate. ("Is that who you really want to be, Vaan? The kind of man who gives up his dreams, his aspirations for some girl?" He had wanted to reply that she was not just some girl, but he knew it was futile. Maybe Balthier was right. He didn't really want to be the kind of person to give up his dreams.)

But, in retrospect, it didn't matter anyway. Ashe had suffered two long years to attain her throne and her country, and she wasn't about to give it up for him, either. It was times like these, when he pondered that notion that he was jealous of what Larsa and Penelo had. After a botched kidnapping attempt, they had prepared to give up everything for each other, (Penelo herself even risked her life by stepping out of that airship, yet Vaan couldn't even face Ashe in broad daylight) and expressed a true, genuine love. Like the kind that happened in fairytales, he supposed, although he had never really been that familiar with fairytales, himself.

Every time he and Ashe seemed to run into each other, on the other hand, they fought. They argued. Was it really fair to compare whatever Vaan and Ashe had between them to the fairytale-like love story that Larsa and Penelo had woven? If anything, the former pair had a love forged by hate for one another, by the ability to get under each other's skin, by the fact that they trusted one another, turned their backs and ran away, but in the end still came back.

And forgave one another.

Maybe that was the trick.

Maybe that was the answer.

Forgiveness.

But would they ever meet to fight and run and return and forgive once again?

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

Vaan realized that he had not been imagining those footsteps.

He and Ada looked up simultaneously to spot Balthier, and to his right Fran, as she spoke.

"A couple of amateurs, maybe?"

"Fran, I do believe your right. I think we may have stumbled across a couple of amateurs. After all, a real sky pirate is never on that side of the bars long enough to sit, let alone get as comfortable as those two. It's almost like they've spent days in there."

"Oh, shove it, Balthier."

Balthier's face soured slightly, in mockery of Ada. "It's been a while, I forgot about how nasty that girl's tongue is. Picked that up in Rabanastre, did you? Sounds as though she even learned it from the Queen herself." He turned to Fran. "She must have, she was so pleasant when we first plucked her out of that village in the desert. Was it the Estersand, or the Westersand? It escapes my memory…"

"What do you want, Balthier?" Vaan spoke for the first time since Balthier and Fran had arrived, his metaphorical feathers rustled by the older sky pirate's mention of the Queen.

Balthier raised a single eyebrow, a necessary sky pirate technique that Vaan had not yet managed to master. "A little impatient, aren't we, Vaan? After all, real sky pirates wait for the _perfect_ moment of opportunity. Well, if you insist, we've come to get you out of here."

"That's a relief." Ada said, an edge to her words once more.

Balthier threw a glance at Ada before announcing to their prison cell in general, "But you're not going back on your prissy little airship, no. We're going to get some Moogles to move that to Dalmasca, where you probably won't get arrested for wearing colors that clash, although I suspect you two were arrested for something more serious than a lack of fashion sense."

"Wait—why are we coming with you?" Vaan asked as Balthier unlocked the door to their cell.

"If I remember correctly," Balthier began, letting the iron metal door swing open, "and I always remember correctly, you have some unfinished business to take care of in the capital city."

"We're in the capital city, you geezer." Ada replied, referencing back to a favorite joke that Balthier was coming to the end of his golden days.

"The capital of _Dalmasca, _you cheeky little snob." As he gestured for Fran to lead them out of the prison, he asked Vaan, "Now, I'm no expert on ransom, but what do you suspect they would be willing to pay for a Queen?"


	2. Part Two

**A/N: Have a general idea of where this is going, now. ****Sort of.****Hopefully somewhere good.**

**Dark ****drow**** Well, I hope we'll enjoy the ride! Yeah, when I sat down to figuratively pen this, I had no idea where it was ****going, just that**** I wanted to write it so badly.**

**Zaz9-zaa0:**** Hooray! I was hoping I would see you review on this:D This should be a happy medium between Pray for Rain and Yours ****Truly****, exceptionally dynamic between the characters, but with a healthy dose of adventure as well. Speaking of Pray for Rain, I really ****really****really**** need to get up the motivation to work on that. **

**Renamed the story to 'Sincerely', because the title just works so much better.**** And it's a salutation, just like ****Yours**** Truly. **

**Sincerely:**

**Part Two**

Vaan knew that Balthier generally had an unorthodox way of solving problems.

But this—this was _insane._

"We're going to _what_?"

"We're going to take care of unfinished business, Vaan. A real sky pirate finishes everything he starts." Balthier explained as they walked out of the prison, and the Dalmascan glanced downward as they stepped over a pair of unconscious guards. He silently reminded himself that he was lucky that Balthier and Fran were on their side.

"Are you sure kidnapping the Queen is the right thing to do?" Vaan asked, glancing at Ada. His last fiasco breaking into the palace (he hardly counted his visit after the banquet. That had been painfully simple.) had sent him on one hell of an adventure, and he wasn't sure he was prepared to go back to prison again.

Balthier scoffed as they walked down the Archadian streets. The civilians glanced at the two foreigners, dressed in their respective garb, and there was a wide variety of facial expressions directed towards them, everything from pure disgust to amused condescension and everything in between.

"Oh, Vaan. You poor, simple-minded child. I never said it was the right thing to do. But it's the best thing to do."

They reached the Aerodome in a matter of minutes, and without a word the desk clerk directed the four to the Strahl.

Balthier sighed happily. "Like a fine wine, she's only gotten better with age." He glanced at his partner. "And the airship's in good shape too." Fran threw him a glance like she had a bad taste in her mouth. Ada laughed. Even in his current state, Vaan could help but plaster that dumb-looking amused smile on his face. Balthier pulled a small remote control out of his pocket, and as he pressed a button, the door opened on the side and the four boarded, and Vaan was instantaneously filled with déjà vu. While his partner had no real ties to the Strahl and was unaffected by their presence in it, Vaan had a lot of memories connected to this airship. Memories of her.

"Fran, my dear? Could you show Ada the tricks and tweaks of our ship, here? I hear she's quite the pilot." As Balthier spoke, Ada blushed, slightly embarrassed even by the subtlest of flattery.

Fran nodded, and as Vaan migrated in Ada's direction, Balthier turned him by his shoulder in the other direction, and with a gentle shove in the back directed him to the table. They needed to catch up on some things.

"Sit." Balthier instructed. Vaan glanced around the airship for a moment, as Balthier gathered his thoughts.

"Congratulations on pulling off that fiasco at the wedding." The older sky pirate commented. "That takes guts, I must admit."

"Thanks." Vaan accepted the compliment, surprised that there was no backhand in it. Not one bit. There was a moment of silence, before he addressed the issue at hand. "What's the plan behind this 'kidnapping' idea of yours?"

Balthier cleared his throat, glad that Vaan was ready to talk. "Well, it's painfully obvious that you two are never going to work anything out if you keep showing up at the Palace. After all, you're on her territory, and everywhere she looks she's reminded of what she would have to give up for you. The logic, Vaan, behind the kidnapping plan, is that this will take you both out of your own territory, out of your element, and it may earn us a nice, shiny gil when this is all over with."

Leave it to Balthier to list monetary gain on the list of advantages.

"…so you think Ashe and I will work things out because she's being held hostage instead of in her palace, where she can call the guards in an instant if she pleases?"

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" Balthier prompted him, but he stayed silent. "A real sky pirate takes risks, Vaan." He coughed. "After all, if we're still talking about the Ashe we traveled with those years ago, then she may not fight too much to get back out into the rest of the world again."

"What do you mean?" Vaan asked. Did Ashe share his same desire to see the sights and experience all that Ivalice had to offer them?

"Your Queen, she is…like a bird. She's fiery, she's restless, and she's most certainly not meant to be caged. I'm sure she's lonely, even if she refuses to admit it to anyone, even to herself."

Vaan was still a bit skeptical. "How would she have lasted this long if she really is that unhappy?"

"Did I mention that she has an amazing force of willpower, as well? For Ultima's sake, Vaan, you know her better than I do. How did all of this manage to escape your notice?"

Vaan had to think on that one for a moment. How did Ashe's true condition escape his notice? He remembered vividly the last night he spoke to her, the fight, the argument, the questions never really answered. "I suppose—" he began, "I suppose I was still so angry at her that I never really thought she'd be so unhappy with the decision she made."

"You never forgave her for giving up on you?"

"We gave up on each other a long time ago, Balthier. She's married. It's over. I'm sorry, but there's no unfinished business here."

"I think you're wrong, Vaan. More than wrong. Not only are you wrong, you are just as much of a stubborn jackass as that Queen we speak of." He cleared his throat, and turned and called Fran and Ada into the room. "Perhaps you're a real sky pirate, after all. You have all of Ivalice out here for the taking, and you're still stuck wishing for the one thing you don't have."

-

The Queen looked up from her book, to discover that it was sunset.

She could hardly say that the time had flown, for she had been reading case law for the past six hours.

She almost laughed, as she thought of her childhood dreams of being Queen. She had imagined much time relaxing and enjoying herself, with servants to wait on her hand and foot and attend to her every whim. Nowhere in there had she imagined wasting six hours of her life reading case law. It was amusing, how the detailed dreams of royal romance had failed her, after all. For her dream of being Queen had always come complete with a Prince Charming.

She was in the quarters she shared with her husband of more than a year, now, but she was alone.

For a moment, she felt guilty, for it escaped her memory where he was off to. After frantically searching her mind, which had been stuck on Yynther v. Dalmasca for the past fifteen minutes, she remembered that he had been visiting the old ruins of his home, the Republic of Landis, for two or three days now.

For the last few years, she had been terribly lonely, but at least, when Basch was around, she wasn't really alone.

Rabanstre at dusk always seemed so tragic to her.

She momentarily pushed aside her mental checklist to stare out the window at the slowly setting sun. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that she was a girl of seventeen, not of twenty-three, and that she had not yet been married once, let alone twice, that she had not somehow lost everyone she had ever cared to trust, that she didn't regret her choices so much that she would stare out at the sunset and wish that she could turn back time.

She opened her eyes again.

Carefully, cautiously, she began to wonder if she would ever get sick of being lonely. Of being strong. Of never trusting, never really believing in anyone but everyone she had lost. Did the Queen of Dalmasca have a breaking point? Would there ever come a day when, finally, she was pushed too far?

Every now and then, she entertained the idea of giving it all up.

"It's not hard for a girl to get lost in this lovely city."

She bit her tongue after speaking aloud, and silently beat herself over the head for voicing her thoughts. It had been a bad habit, lately, to speak to an empty room, as if expecting it to comfort her in return. But how could she even consider such a thing, abandoning both her throne and her country to live the life of a street urchin, of a merchant, or of a wanderer, as she had years ago. How could she even long for those times again, after she had restored her country and made peace with the surrounding areas. What more could she want?

No, she didn't need anything beyond this, her every dream and every fantasy fulfilled.

Right?

-

The sun had dipped just below the horizon when they spotted Rabanastre. Balthier and Vaan spied it from the exterior loading dock, where they gripped rails and went over the exact details one more time.

"If she sees you," Balthier began, nodding at Vaan in a sad sort of way, "she'll call the guards immediately. I think she might rather put you in prison for life than have to trust you with hers, so I'll grab her. Literally, if I have to." Vaan cringed slightly.

Fran was effortlessly gliding in the direction of the palace, effortlessly creeping up on the city, like a silent thief hiding in the shadows of the quickly approaching night. Aware that they could be overheard, now, and not wanting to draw attention to them, Balthier pointed to a light in one of the top windows. Vaan laid eyes on a familiar silhouette, and his heart started racing. Balthier nodded to the younger sky pirate, who nodded back and stepped back into the back of the dock. He could see Ashe, but she could not see him. It was almost satisfying, in that vengeful sort of way. Almost satisfying.

His heart continued to race as Fran got as close as she possibly could to the window, where Ashe was concentrated fully and completely on her book. Balthier bent over slightly, as he silently and effortlessly unlatched her glass windows, grabbing onto the inner panes and opening them like doors.

She almost screamed.

Almost.

But then she saw the gun.

"Hello, my dear Lady. It's been too long, hasn't it?"

"What do you want from me?" She tried to keep her resolve, but she was failing. Her face was completely devoid of color and she was shaking. She was obviously confused, she didn't know why her former comrade had her at gunpoint. Vaan had to admit that he would be confused, too.

"You'll be coming with me, now. I hear there is some unfinished business we need to take care of."

"You hear? Balthier, I would love to accompany you on your little treasure hunts and your other frivolous pursuits, but my country _needs _me." She dearly hoped that he was bluffing, and that he didn't intend to use that gun.

"For right now, a sky pirate needs you. I've noticed your knight in shining armor hasn't rushed to your side to defend you, now, has he? Where is this prince charming, now?"

She ignored his question. "Balthier, what about my country?" She wasn't about to just leave with him, even if she was secretly tempted to—just—get away from all of this.

"Your country will have you back soon enough. I'll give you my word."

She looked as though she were tempted to spit on her expensive carpet. For the time being, she just wrinkled her nose and muttered, "The word of a sky pirate means _nothing_." She said sinisterly, and Vaan wondered if she was thinking of him.

"Then I give you my word not as a sky pirate, but as an ex-Judge, a noble, and an Archadian."

"I hardly see how that makes you any more reliable, but if we won't be long…" She took his outstretched hand, and Fran slowly began to inch away from the palace. They needed to get out of there, before the night watchmen realized that there was an airship hovering outside of the palace. Just in time, she grabbed the wrist of his other arm, and hopped the gap between her desk and the airship. How nice the clear night air felt, she couldn't help but think.

"Careful, my Lady, it's a long way down from here. Wouldn't want you to fall." Balthier's comment was disregarded, as Ashe's head snapped around, and Vaan knew, without a doubt, that she had spotted him. Her feet still on the edge, she requested, in essence, to fall to her death and commit (a quite real) suicide.

"Balthier, be a gentleman and please let go."


	3. Part Three

**A/N: ****I am such a lazy ass.**

**Narusaku69:**** Thanks! I really love VaanxAshe more than any other Vaan or Ashe couples, but there are a few I can stand more than others.**

**Zaz9-zaa0:****Oh, yes, Vaan may not doubt Balthier's intentions, but the Leading Man never does anything that won't benefit the Leading Man in some way, shape or form. Hur hur hur, we know that would be too easy. And Ashe and Vaan have never been the kind to take the easy way out. **

**Sincerely:**

**Part Three**

"My, my, my, darling, don't you think that's a bit—drastic, for your taste?"

Ashe, obviously second-guessing herself, threw an unsuspecting Balthier against the wall of the loading dock as she pushed past him to face Vaan. Even in that pretty red and gold dress, she looked terrifying. In the early evening light, her eyes seemed to blaze with contained anger. Even in this state of confusion and utter terror, Vaan couldn't help but find it undeniably sexy.

That thought was abandoned the moment she opened her mouth.

They were about to get into it again.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ashe spat, narrowing her eyes angrily.

"Why do you automatically assume that I'm out to get you?"

"Why else would you be here, hiding in the shadows?"

"What if I told you this was all Balthier's idea?"

"What if I decided that that's not true?"

"Then you're nothing but a liar."

"That means nothing coming to me coming from the mouth of a hypocrite."

"Aren't you putting yourself in a high place, there, assuming that I would do this all for you? Think through the monetary gain that we're going to get from this, Ashe."

"Don't you _dare _lie to me, Ratsbane." Her tone was fierce and dangerous. "And that's Queen to you." After a moment of awkward silence, she lowered her tone and asked, "So what are you really after, here? Taking me away from my country, my home? What could possibly be worth this? I know Balthier and he would do this just for money, but you, Vaan, like to play the part of Dalmasca's Robin Hood. You would never do this just for money. So what is it, what is it, Vaan?"

He knew. Both in his mind and his heart, he knew. There never was, nor had there been a single doubt in his mind as to the answer to that question, but the doubts were in whether or not he should tell her. In his mind, he had imagined on the flight to the palace exactly how this conversation would play out. Needless to say, it had not played out like this. He should have known better, he should have known better, he knew she wouldn't come rushing into his arms, weeping, with a million confessions of her loneliness and regret and love.

Fed up with his prolonged silence, his girl turned around and walked away, up into the elevator. And he stared at her, slightly, with the same sad look on her face as she walked away. Balthier closed the dock, walked over to Vaan, and clapped a reassuring hand against the back of his shoulder. "It's alright, Vaan. She just needs some time to warm up to you. After all, it's been a while, hasn't it? And if she doesn't, the palace will pay a shiny gil to get their Queen back, eh? We'll hit Balfonhiem and have ourselves a good time. After all, it is Ashe we're talking about. What did you expect?"

"I know, I know." Vaan turned around, "I should have known better."

-

By the time Balthier and Vaan waited for the elevator to take Ashe up to the Bridge, waited for it to come back down, and rode it up to the Bridge, she had basically made herself at home. She and her slightly poofy red dress were seated at the table, across from Ada, deep in conversation. Fran was standing next to the two, and had apparently put the airship on Autopilot.

"Oh, Fran!" Balthier whined. "What in the name of Ivalice is so important that you have to put our girl on Autopilot?"

"If you're going to be picky, fly it yourself." She said, her Viera accent thick. Balthier grumbled something inaudible and indeed ambled over to the cockpit, not about to let some useless computer fly his ship. Vaan suddenly felt slightly out of place, and glanced at Ada for help. However, it soon became apparent that his partner was not about to help him out of the jam he was in currently, for she only narrowed her eyes at him and jerked her head in the direction of the cockpit. After she made it quite apparent that he was not welcome in this conversation, he indeed left for the cockpit and sighed slightly to himself.

-

It helped to be with Fran, in a strange sort of way.

If she squinted and turned her head to the right, Ada sorta looked like Penelo and she could almost pretend that they were on the Strahl three or four years ago, flying to wherever they pleased, their only agenda being to start a revolution and save the world. They had been so burdened, yet it was freeing, in a way. Even with the burden of the obligation to her country, she could travel the world as she saw fit, she could shed her royal guard and fight to defend herself. Because she was not about to see another single life sacrificed for her sake. Not anymore. But even then, there were those that lost their lives to protect her and what she stood for. Rasler, her own father, Vossler, Gabranth, all those that sacrificed themselves for her cause. And her cause was freedom.

So she got what she wanted, didn't she? Her country was free. Wasn't that what she had wanted, after all? All she had ever really wanted was to see her country liberated from the Empire's iron grip. Now that it was, shouldn't she be perfectly happy?

"I don't understand this—plan of theirs." Fran said slowly, making sure she wasn't slurring her words and that Ada and Ashe could understand her through the accent.

"Plan?" Ada asked.

"There's something behind this, I know it." Fran said.

"You're certainly no kind to play the uninformed copilot." Ashe pointed out, but Fran countered,

"You're no kind to play the damsel in distress. But there are times when we must all—step outside ourselves. After all, there are things beyond this, things greater than our own purposes."

Ada was obviously at a loss for words. She was nineteen. By no means was she as philosophical or sentimental or thoughtful or even mature as these two, and she was having trouble following the conversation. Ashe glanced in her direction, unsure of how to handle her, because they both knew that Ada knew something that Ashe didn't, and she wasn't about to share it.

Also looking directly at Ada, Fran spoke, "There are still a few timeless truths in this world of ours. Truths that are sacred. The first is freedom." All three of them knew that one well. Ada imagined flying through the skies at a million miles an hour, Fran imagined the deepest depths of places yet undiscovered, and Ashe imagined her bustling city, free from the Empire's control. "The second is life." This one was more sensitive, touchier. Ashe could see from the look on Ada's face that there were certainly not good memories associated with that word, but the Queen herself could control herself better than the sky pirate. She showed no sign of any kind of emotion, and Fran was more stoic than the other two combined. But Fran's eyes moved to Ashe as she finished, "But the third, my Lady, the third is love."

-

Ada took note, in retrospect, that the next few events happened in such quick succession that for many minutes after, she had no idea what was going on. She and Balthier combined managed to piece together the following events, for before they knew exactly what was going on, another fight had broken out.

Ashe looked up from the table, and in that instant she saw only Vaan and his angry brown eyes staring back at her, and she stood up so fast that her chair was pushed over, all eyes turned to Vaan and Ashe as he stood up just as fast from the copilot's seat, and as Balthier turned around to locate the source of the commotion, he let go of the wheel and the Strahl dipped, hitting a small transport skiff and taking a nice chunk out of their landing gear.

Although that fact made an enormous impact on the events to follow, no one besides Fran seemed to care about it right off the bat. She rushed into the cockpit as Balthier rushed out, to nowhere in particular, really. He knew his place, as he let her take control of the Strahl.

"_Love?!__" _ came a shriek, Ada looked a few feet away and saw Vaan and Ashe, closer than she had ever seen them before, faces red and eyes narrowed. "How dare you! To try and tempt me away from my destiny and my country with fantasies of _love!_"

"I was right!" Vaan cried back, not afraid to raise his voice at her. "None of us meant anything to you! We were just pawns in the _princess' _master plan, ready to sacrifice if it meant getting what you wanted! You were perfectly prepared to cast us aside the instant we got between you and your destiny and your country! So what are you going to do now, my Queen? We're keeping you away from your country and your people. What are you going to do now, Ashe? Throw us away like you did back then? That's not an option anymore."

As Vaan turned and began to walk away, Ashe cried, "Don't you dare walk away." He turned back around slightly, though his right foot was still planted in the other direction and he obviously had no intention of walking back to her. "You are such a despicable coward. Even among sky pirates. When things get hard, you run. I've seen it with my own two eyes. Now that you're not getting the love you have long sought after, are you going to run away again? Just like you always do? Is that just easier?"

Vaan narrowed his eyes in response. "I may have run, but never once did I turn my back on people who needed me."

"What about Penelo?" Ashe countered. "She fell ill and you left, to find Balthier."

Vaan was taken aback by the mention of something from so long ago, but had an answer for that. "Darling," He began, not in an affectionate but in a condescending sort of way, "Penelo did not need me. She doesn't need me. She never will. She's stronger than I am, not in brute strength, but she has willpower like you would not believe." He paused, as something dawned on him, "She fell ill, but she didn't come running to you, either. After all, she waited in the Sandsea, and it wasn't long before her dear Larsa came to rescue her."

Ashe cackled, and it was a horrible sound that resonated through the airship. "Are you jealous of Larsa, sweeping your best friend off her feet and carrying her off to Archadia?"

"I will never, ever be jealous of Larsa. I will always be jealous of what they have." Vaan stepped back in her direction. "They proved to me that some people choose love over politics. Larsa didn't marry the girl that was best for Archadia, he married the girl that was best for Larsa." He took another step in her direction. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see Archadia falling to her knees."

"There you go again," Ashe began viciously, "with your fantasies about love."

Vaan cut in. "I may be a coward, but I am not the only coward here. I may run, but you do too, Ashe. When you became Queen, you ran from your past and anything that had to do with it. You ran from us. When you knew you had to marry, you ran from anyone your country might have disapproved of. You ran from what you wanted. You run from any kind of controversy, from any kind of conflict, from anything that would demean you even the slightest bit in the eyes of your country." He could tell from the look in her eyes that he was slowly breaking down her defense, but he was done with this.

"You, my Queen, you run from anything that might make you happy."

**A/N: I don't normally do two author's notes, but just for a fun fact, but Vaan's whole post-game development and characterization is based a lot on myself. When he referred to Ashe as 'darling,' a couple paragraphs up, that was taken directly from myself. I call people 'darling' when I'm really pissed at them. I give Vaan's character little bits and pieces of myself, because I identify a lot with him, even in the context of the game.**


	4. Part Four

**A/N: I've really downplayed ****Ada**** and her relationship with ****Vaan**** so far, so I think I'm going to shine the spotlight on her for a while to get her take on the situation. I would include her a lot more, but she's an OC and I'm terrified of the n00bish Mary Sue stereotype. ****Anyway…**

**Zaz9-zaa0:**** Aww****, you flatter me so! It's easy to develop Ashe and ****Vaan**** without being cheesy, because they fight so much. I think they should have fought more in the game, personally. **

**Sincerely:**

**Part Four**

"I'll make the ransom call at dawn, just to be sure they've noticed your absence and we're far enough away."

Balthier paced back and forth in the cabin, before adding, "Lest your knight in shining armor come after us." He mocked realization, slapping his forehead and leaning backwards, "Oh, terribly sorry. I forgot. He's in the Republic of Landis, isn't he?"

Ashe glared, her normally quiet brown eyes angry.

Ada stifled a laugh. At her suggestion, to keep the situation under control, both Vaan and Ashe were tied to chairs on their respective ends of the room, and after a moment of obscene shouting they were both gagged.

"This is turning out to be more tiresome than I expected." Balthier said, sighing and sitting down.

"Man up, you old geezer." Ada jabbed, before pointing out, "Hopefully, this will all be worth it in the end."

"I hope by that you mean that we'll be rolling, sleeping, and bathing in gil, not that these two will have broods of children."

Ada pretended to think about that. "As likely as the latter may seem, I don't actually see that happening anytime soon."

Balthier pretended to think, as well. "I must admit, I see your point." Vaan attempted to say something through the cloth gag, but it came out too muffled to discern any kind of hume words. Or Viera, or Bangaa, or anything else that could talk, either. "Oh, it's okay, Vaan. Once you and the Queen can behave, we'll let you go."

Ada stood up, and walked over to where Balthier was sitting. "How will we know when they can behave?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Good point, my friend. I suppose we'll just have to decide for ourselves."

They were enjoying this waay too much.

"Balthier!" Fran called suddenly, sounding worried. Balthier had never heard Fran sound that panicked, so he hurried as fast as he could into the cockpit. He was exceptionally worried, and it turned out, for good reason.

-

"Alright, darlings and Vaan. This is the situation."

Balthier and Fran stood across from Ada, who was standing between Vaan and Ashe, who were still tied to their respective chairs and gagged.

"When you," Balthier pointed to Vaan, "and you," he pointed to Ashe, "jumped up and went at it, I—" he pointed to himself, "lost control of the Strahl for just a moment." He sighed. "Unfortunately, it only took a moment to clip the top of a little transport skiff, and damage our landing gear."

Ada gasped, and Ashe attempted to do so, but ended up making more of a coughing noise and glaring at Balthier, who smiled back at her in a slightly condescending way.

"And to make matters even worse—"

"—we're running out of fuel." Ada put in. "How predictable."

Balthier rolled his eyes. Stupid teenager.

"So, what're our options?" Ada asked, realizing that for now, she was going to have to speak on behalf of Ashe and Vaan.

"We could try to fly to civilization, which, considering where we are, would probably end in a fiery death." Balthier said, obviously avoiding telling the three exactly where they were.

After a moment of hesitation, Ada asked, eyebrows furrowed, "Where exactly are we?"

Balthier scratched the back of his head. "Unfortunately, darling, we're currently hovering over the Nabreus Deadlands.

Immediately, Ada let out a string of curses that only a true pirate would know. Ashe cringed, this was very unladylike, but after all, Ada was a sky pirate, for Ultima's sake. Vaan attempted to nod approvingly, but it didn't work out exactly as planned.

"I don't like the Deadlands." Ada said, shivering slightly.

"Who does?" Balthier pointed out.

"There are _ghosts _in the Deadlands." Ada retorted, paling. What if she ran into the ghost of her father? Would she even recognize him? What if she found out that her mother was dead? What if? What if?

"Ten points for Captain Obvious, here. We get it. You don't like the Deadlands. Unless you'd like to be a ghost wandering around there a few hours from now, you'll untie them so we can try and land this thing."

"Fine, fine." Ada set to untying her partner first, thinking of all the horrible things she could do to him while he was tied to a chair. Having the feeling that she was going to regret passing up this opportunity sometime in the future, she first untied his legs, then his arms, and finally ungagged him. She ran her fingers down the side of his face, where the gag had left a red mark, and for a single instant she was jealous. Just a single instant, and then it passed.

As Balthier finished untying Ashe and Fran began the slow descent to the Deadlands, no one was sure what was going to happen next. Not even Vaan and Ashe seemed to know if a fight was going to break out again, but it appeared that they had learned their lesson about distracting the pilot.

"The Deadlands?" Vaan's voice came out slightly feeble and cracked, but began to sound normal again as he continued, "What the hell are we doing in the Deadlands?"

"Taking the long way to Archades." Balthier supplied.

"Why would we be taking the long way to Archades?" Ashe asked.

"So as not to get arrested, dear. You're kind of inexperienced at this whole 'escaping the law' thing, aren't you?" Balthier answered slowly, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go make that ransom call. Any suggestions, Ada?"

"Oh, I dunno. Forty-five million is a nice round number."

"I do believe you're onto something, darling."

-

Fifteen minutes later, Ada hated the Deadlands more than ever. Since the ship had completely run out of power by the time it landed, they had had to pull out the paper map that Balthier and Fran had created a few years back, with landmarks and notes scribbled in Balthier's sloppy hand.

The group, a motley bunch, was standing in the middle of the moor, a white fog rolling around their knees, as Vaan, Fran and Balthier poured over the map, trying to figure out exactly where they were and how they were going to get out. Ashe and Ada were supposed to "keep watch, in case some mutant Flan decides to come after us", as Balthier eloquently put it, but Ada wasn't sure that either of them were in any state to fight anything. She felt around for her knives, she only located six, and furrowed her eyebrows as she silently wondered what had happened to the seventh. She patted herself down one more time, before seeing a shiny glint out of the corner of her eye, and she turned to see Vaan spinning her knife in his left hand.

Ada raised her eyebrows, not even going to ask how he got a hold of that, and caught it by the handle as he tossed it to her.

"Alright, Ada and Ashe, this is the situation at hand." Balthier said, walking over to the two and rolling up the map slightly.

"I don't like the way that sounds."

"It doesn't matter whether or not you like the way it sounds, Ada."

"Whatever. Spit it out, you old fart."

He unrolled the map, yet again ignoring Ada's comment about his age. "Based on that rock there," He pointed to a large rock about a hundred feet away, and both Ada and Ashe turned to look at it, "that tree," he pointed to a tree that seemed a little out of place, "and that freakishly large turtle," he pointed to a turtle hiding in the marshes that was, indeed, freakishly large, "we're about here." He pointed to a region in about the middle of the map. "And thanks to that storm last week, the northern part of the Salikawood is flooded." He looked up at Ashe, and it was clear that he was speaking directly to her. "And unfortunately for you, Queen, that means we'll have to exit through the—"

Vaan suddenly cut in, speaking to Ashe and only Ashe. "—the Nechorol of Nabudis."

Even years ago, when there was the promise of great treasure and glory for defeating the monsters locked in the Nechorol of Nabudis, Ashe refused to follow the rest of the party in there. She was a widow, and she had spent too much time in the palace in Nabudis. She was going to rule from Nabudis someday, until the Empire got in her way. Years ago, when traveling with her friends, she had been overcome by grief when trying to enter the Nechorol of Nabudis. She was never the kind to face her past head on, but at this point, it didn't really look like she had much of a choice.

"Are you suggesting that I'm not strong enough to handle those old ruins?"

"Are you implying that you've somehow gotten stronger these past three years of sitting in the castle, reading books and passing laws?"

"Are you implying that you're somehow a valid judge of my strength of character?"

"Yes, I am!"

Balthier sighed. "I would suggest that we at least start walking while you two argue, before we get eaten by zombies."

Ada and Fran agreed, and the former gave Vaan a shove in the back. Vaan and Ashe quieted down, slowly, but chose not to walk beside each other. Probably for the best, Ada noted.

It was only a few moments before they came across the first zombie.

Fran's arrow missed the target by a few inches and nailed the zombie in the right shoulder, so as it approached the party in that signature, half dead sort of way that zombies move, Ada threw her seventh knife, never sheathed since Vaan returned it, and hit the undead in the heart. Reaching out with its right hand, it slowly fell to the ground, and Ada, who could now hear her own heartbeat and the blood rushing through her veins, rushed over to retrieve her knife. The zombie's body was already beginning to deteriorate, having been dead even before she finished it off, and without much effort she removed the knife from the corpse. Her entire body pale and her hands shaking, she wiped the dark blood on the ground until her lucky seventh knife was clean.

"What's wrong with her?" Ashe asked no one in particular, more as a show of sincerity than anything.

Vaan answered, but for the first time in a long time, he spoke to Ashe without a single hint of bitterness or spite in his voice. "Not much, really. She just prefers to kill things that are still alive."

-

By the time the ruins were in sight, Ada was pretty sure she was going to lose it. She had lost count of how many zombies they had killed, ghosts that the party had had to escape from, but it didn't seem to bother anyone else like it bothered Ada. For a long moment, as she wiped her knife clean once more, she stopped and wondered why. She knew for a fact that Vaan was an orphan, Ashe was both an orphan and a widow, Balthier had often alluded to the fact that both an orphan and his father's murderer, and Fran, well, who really knew about Fran, anyway?

But even directly coming in contact with the dead, like this, no one seemed to be affected quite like Ada, even though she didn't even know whether her parents were dead or alive. As they waded in silence through one final marsh, Ada stole a glance back at Ashe, but the Queen didn't seem to be affected at all by the impending ruins. Frankly, she didn't even seem to care. Was everyone in this stupid group immune to the pain brought on by their pasts, except for stupid, immature Ada? She wondered as they began to enter the ruins.

They had not even begun to survey the grand, decrepit halls before they head a sob escape from the back of the group. Sure enough, Ada noted, Ashe was in tears, and whose arms was she in but those of her partner, who stroked her hair and looked around with his own sad brown eyes.

And with that, the female sky pirate realized some things.

Every one of them was affected by their past.

Some just hid it better.

**A/N: Once again, doubling up on my author's notes, but I wanted to point out some more fun facts. Ada isn't technically an OC. She's about as minor of a character as you can get and still get a name, but she is in the game. She's in the Dalmasca Estersand village, and she stands on the edge of the river. She's the one who you sell fish to. I saw her and just based on what she said, (something about collecting the treasures that the river brought) decided to refer to her in Yours Truly. I eventually wove her a fairly complicated past, and before I knew it, she had grown into quite the character.**

**But still, not technically an OC. XD.**

**Love,**

**Painted Sky **


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